Dylan's baby blessing

our first family picture

on Sunday April 15th, our sweet Dylan was blessed in church.  I wasn't as worried about it this time around and Dylan didn't make a peep...Clark was the one wailing!!  haha, he's going through a phase right now where he's super attached to his dada and anytime he leaves, Clark loses it.  well, when Mark, my dad and Mark's dad all left the pew at church to head up front for the blessing, Clark wanted to follow them and when we held him back he had a meltdown!  he was screaming for about 10 seconds before I finally calmed him down.  I told him Dylan was going to be held in a circle and daddy and Grandad and all of those men were going to say a special prayer for him.  but I told him he had to be quiet so he could hear the prayer.  that quieted him down pretty quickly.  Clark doesn't like to miss out on anything!

Dylan's blessing was so special and Remi wrote the whole thing down.  I put it in his baby journal so he can read it someday.  during the blessing, I could envision Dylan as a little boy and knew everything Mark was saying about him was true.  he was blessed with the gift of discernment to understand those around him.  he will be a leader who will help others come unto Christ.  he will have patience and be an example to his parents (he sure could teach me some patience!) and when he walks into a room, everyone will feel his love.

Mark told him he's been blessed with a family who loves him and will raise him in the gospel.  as he listens to the promptings of the spirit and reads the scriptures, his mind will be blessed with knowledge and wisdom.  I could feel the Lord's love for Dylan during his blessing and I am so proud to have him as my son.

after church we had a luncheon at our house.  Remi made the most delicious chocolate-chip cookies I've ever tasted and homemade hot fudge for our sundaes!  we also had my mother's famous chicken salad on croissants, her yummy broccoli salad, hummus and pita chips, assorted cheeses, sausage, crackers, fruit and Remi's scrumptious fruit dip, veggies, potato salad, and lemonade.  everyone took turns holding Dilly and Clark had a blast playing with his cousins outside.  what a wonderful day we'll always remember!

my beautiful flowers from Chip!

Clark's baby blessing

on Sunday Mark gave Clark his baby blessing in church with lots of family in attendance.  I was pretty nervous about the whole thing since we hadn't been able to make it to church ever since they changed our meeting time to 8:30 am.  Clark cluster feeds in the mornings since he sleeps so long at night and we just never made it out the door.  but there was no way he could not show up for his own blessing so come hell or high water we were making it that Sunday!  luckily he was sound asleep when we got there but just as I suspected, he immediately started crying once mark took him out of his carseat for the blessing.

he continued to fuss on their way up there but as soon as Mark started the blessing he was silent!  Kara told Sean it was so abrupt she wondered what they had done to him, haha!  it was either the work of God and His angels or the fact that everyone in the circle was swaying Clark up and down "like his own personal water bed," as Sean described.  I like to think it was the former. :)

while Mark was giving Clark his blessing I felt the spirit so strong.  tears came to my eyes as I listened to Mark's voice and the wonderful things he said about Clark's life.  he will be a peacemaker and a joy to others. he will be an example and a leader in our family.  he will be a pillar of strength as he goes through many changes in this world.  I could feel the Lord's love for Clark as Mark spoke and I'm so proud of my son already and all the good he will do in this world and the happiness he will bring others.

my two favorite boys!

after church we headed back to our house for family pictures and lunch.  Mark's father Chip regaled us with his wonderful stories and I loved having our families talk and get to know each other better.  this was the first time both my parents had met his dad since he was still serving his mission in Finland at our wedding!

what a wonderful weekend with family!  we also had a super fun time visiting with Mark's good family friends (and his boss' parents) the Carruth's from PV.  Mark's parents stayed with them since our house was full.  they have a lake house and so we had all kinds of fun playing out on the lake!  more on that next time!

Happy March!

I've been meaning to blog since March began but it's already been a busy month and I haven't had a chance.  It's been a good start to the month!  I started up the Feel Great in 8 Challenge again this month and while it hasn't been off to the best start (worked on set on Wednesday and there were just too many temptations!) I have high hopes for the challenge this time around.  It's seriously an amazing idea but when put into practice, it's not always super practical.  Maybe if you didn't have a huge sweet tooth like me it wouldn't be that hard but I am kind of addicted to sugar!!!

What I really love about the challenge is that it's not just about losing weight (although diet is a big part) but it's full of spiritual and mental components that can really help you turn your life around and start focusing on becoming a better person overall.  Although the diet part is hard and time consuming (counting calories and tracking protein and fiber can be a lot of work) I'm trying to do better on that because I want to start changing my eating habits now for when I'm eating for two ;)  I don't want my baby coming out addicted to sugar!

Other than the Feel Great in 8 Challenge, March has been busy for me with auditions, work, and spending lots of time with cute kiddos...

Most Saturdays I get to fulfill one of my childhood dreams and be a Disney princess, making little girls' dreams come true.  I am usually Princess Anna :)

Then on Sundays, I get to play with the sweetest babes for two hours and witness moments like these...

No words! hahahah

Make a funny face Kobina!

Serving in the Nursery makes me so anxious to have a little one to call my own!  When the parents arrive, there is a look of pure joy on each sweet face as they race to show their mommy or daddy what they made for them that day.  Parents can do no wrong in the eyes of these children.  Tired, grumpy, or just preoccupied with other things, their parents are their whole world.  Oh how I want to be a little babe's whole world!

After church!

My handsome man

Then, after a weekend full of kiddos, I get to look after some beautiful, intelligent, creative little girlies two days a week.  Meet Sofia and Lilly.

Sofia

Lilly

Oh and Smorgie (we have a love-hate relationship)

Working on my french braiding skills

No, she isn't trying to flip me off haha

On days when I'm not watching these two, sometimes (like this week) I'm over helping my sister-in-law Al with my two nephews, Jake and Sam!  No pictures because I never remember to take any but basically my life is FULL of kids.  None of which are my own but that's okay because I'm getting lots of practice :)

This week I had two auditions for musicals, one based on the book series "Pinkalicious!" and another for the "Newsies".  Haven't heard back so it's probably a no but fun experiences!  Then on Tuesday I worked on the set of "Drunk History" and made some new friends.  Every day is an adventure, let me tell you!

This month I'm also attempting two 30 Day Challenges at once!  Feeling ambitious...

March is off to a good start, but I can't WAIT for April!!!!  More on that later :)